Video Card strictly for 4K playback?

[DrewSG3]

I think I have a Radeon HD9600 series video that's about 6-7 years old, and doesn't seem to handle 4K playback at all. When I play 4K youtube content on my 55" 4K TV, the CPU load jumps to over 95% load on all 4 cores.

Do I need to upgrade my GPU? This is strictly for video playback. I think I'm pretty much done with gaming on my PC so hopefully there's a card < $80 for me. Preferably AMD as I get a discount when I buy their products.

BTW, I know I've been out of the loop but jeez there's a lot of video cards out now. I remember when there were just 3 categories. Budget -> Midrange -> High-end. Now there just seems to be a whole mess of video cards released on the market.

 

[Crono]

RX 550 is $85 (on Newegg, at least). Would be great for 4K video playback.

Nvidia GT 1030 is under $80.

 

[happy medium]

For watching video's you want a silent card.
Here is a gt1030 for $72 that's silent.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125973&cm_re=gt1030-_-14-125-973-_-Product

 

[wilds]

4k playback will not stress the GPU to raise its fans. I really wouldn't focus on a passively cooled card just for 4k playback. That said, OP mentions extremely high CPU usage which is rather worrying. 4k playback is annoying on Windows as it will use the CPU depending on the browser/software you use.

I still use my old GTX 650 for 4k Blu Rays and it idles at 400 MHz without dropping frames, with fan speeds at idle as well. A GT 1030 or RX 550 perform quite well and will barely use any power at idle.

What CPU do you have, OP?

Edit: I would also look at the software you are using. I can playback 4k60fps at 66% speed on a GT 240M + i7-820qm using VLC, but it runs at 100% flawlessly using Quicktime via Mac OS.

If I watch a 4k video on Chrome my CPU will turbo itself and run at 100% usage on all my laptops, but if I watch it on a browser that supports my GPU; it will idle my CPU.

 

[DrewSG3]

4k playback will not stress the GPU to raise its fans. I really wouldn't focus on a passively cooled card just for 4k playback. That said, OP mentions extremely high CPU usage which is rather worrying. 4k playback is annoying on Windows as it will use the CPU depending on the browser/software you use.

I still use my old GTX 650 for 4k Blu Rays and it idles at 400 MHz without dropping frames, with fan speeds at idle as well. A GT 1030 or RX 550 perform quite well and will barely use any power at idle.

What CPU do you have, OP?

Edit: I would also look at the software you are using. I can playback 4k60fps at 66% speed on a GT 240M + i7-820qm using VLC, but it runs at 100% flawlessly using Quicktime via Mac OS.

If I watch a 4k video on Chrome my CPU will turbo itself and run at 100% usage on all my laptops, but if I watch it on a browser that supports my GPU; it will idle my CPU.

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K. I know it's old enough that I bought it in a CompUSA store.
and I mistated the OP, It's a Radeon HD6900, not 9600
and I'm using Windows 7, and Chrome to playback Youtube where I got the really high CPU usage.

 

[wilds]

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K. I know it's old enough that I bought it in a CompUSA store.
and I mistated the OP, It's a Radeon HD6900, not 9600
and I'm using Windows 7, and Chrome to playback Youtube where I got the really high CPU usage.

That CPU is great. Since you don't have Windows 10 with Edge, 4k playback on a browser will be tough. I'm not exactly sure upgrading the GPU will do anything if you continue to use Chrome for 4k.

 

[DrewSG3]

That CPU is great. Since you don't have Windows 10 with Edge, 4k playback on a browser will be tough. I'm not exactly sure upgrading the GPU will do anything if you continue to use Chrome for 4k.

yikes.. I just downloaded a HDR 4K movie to play on VLC from my HDD and couldn't even do that either. Played really choppy with CPU usage at 95-100 on all four cores. I assume that is GPU related?

 

[wilds]

yikes.. I just downloaded a HDR 4K movie to play on VLC from my HDD and couldn't even do that either. Played really choppy with CPU usage at 95-100 on all four cores. I assume that is GPU related?

No. Your GPU isn't even being used. I have the same problem on my setup which has a GTX 1070. VLC just cannot do this at default settings.

Fortunately VLC has tons of options. Go to Tools -> Preferences -> Input / Codecs.

If you have a newer version of VLC, you must enable Show Settings to All, but I recommend downgrading to 2.0 first.

In 2.0, all you have to do is check GPU acceleration and click restart in Input / Codecs.

Playing a 4k video on Chrome uses no GPU by default as well. To force it, open Chrome, type in chrome://flags and enable Override Software Rendering List. Restart Chrome and go to a 4k video on YouTube.

Now my GPU is being used for 4k playback and my CPU is not at 100%! This was tested on a GTX 650 at idle clocks with the CPU locked at 2.0 GHz. CPU usage is still high, and if I let it, the CPU wants to turbo, but it is not at 100%.

I don't think you will need to spend any $$$.

VLC 2.0 https://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/2.0.2.html

If you don't want to downgrade click All in Show Settings in Input / Codecs and search GPU. you should be able to select the DirectX renderer, but honestly, I am not 100% sure that works. I know 2.0's GPU Acceleration check box works.

edit: Oh, and your CPU's iGPU is perfectly adequate for 4k60 playback as well. You have the option to take out your GPU if you want as HD 4600 can drive a 4k60 display over DisplayPort. No need to even use the old Radeon. Just make sure to update to the latest Intel HD graphics driver.

This will save you some power.

 

[DrewSG3]

No. Your GPU isn't even being used. I have the same problem on my setup which has a GTX 1070. VLC just cannot do this at default settings.

Fortunately VLC has tons of options. Go to Tools -> Preferences -> Input / Codecs.

If you have a newer version of VLC, you must enable Show Settings to All, but I recommend downgrading to 2.0 first.

In 2.0, all you have to do is check GPU acceleration and click restart in Input / Codecs.

Playing a 4k video on Chrome uses no GPU by default as well. To force it, open Chrome, type in chrome://flags and enable Override Software Rendering List. Restart Chrome and go to a 4k video on YouTube.

Now my GPU is being used for 4k playback and my CPU is not at 100%! This was tested on a GTX 650 at idle clocks with the CPU locked at 2.0 GHz. CPU usage is still high, and if I let it, the CPU wants to turbo, but it is not at 100%.

I don't think you will need to spend any $$$.

VLC 2.0 https://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/2.0.2.html

If you don't want to downgrade click All in Show Settings in Input / Codecs and search GPU. you should be able to select the DirectX renderer, but honestly, I am not 100% sure that works. I know 2.0's GPU Acceleration check box works.

edit: Oh, and your CPU's iGPU is perfectly adequate for 4k60 playback as well. You have the option to take out your GPU if you want as HD 4600 can drive a 4k60 display over DisplayPort. No need to even use the old Radeon. Just make sure to update to the latest Intel HD graphics driver.

This will save you some power.

That did the trick! Thank you, ZGR

Usage is now < 45-50% and is playing back much more smoothly although there is still some frame dropping. I suspect maybe that is a codec issue, I'll play around with it this weekend.

 

[wilds]

That did the trick! Thank you, ZGR

Usage is now < 45-50% and is playing back much more smoothly although there is still some frame dropping. I suspect maybe that is a codec issue, I'll play around with it this weekend.

Hey, glad to hear! If you still have any problems, especially with VLC, there are free alternatives. I am not too familiar with them, but they should work!